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5 November 2014

My Favourites: Songs of First Love

Original illustration by: E.H. Shephard

Some time earlier, I wrote a post about yearning for someone to love, for someone who returns our love, someone who becomes special in ways that we cannot articulate, someone who 'belongs' to us as we belong to them. This post is a follow-up to that one: What happens when you find that special someone? When Cupid's arrows strike your heart, when one smile, one glance is enough to make your heart beat faster? How does it feel like to be in love? For that very first time?

It is not that one falls in love only once, and eschews it forever more if that relationship ends - Shahrukh Khan's Pyar bhi ek hi baar hota hain notwithstanding. But if one is lucky enough to find a second love, it is hard to shake off the tinge of jaded cynicism, the feeling that 'nothing lasts forever' that is a legacy of an earlier (broken/ended) relationship. (Once you do surmount that hurdle, however, you may find that this second love is sweeter, stronger, more mature, and perhaps more enduring.)

There is a special place in our poems and literature for pehla pyar. Perhaps it is the implication of innocence. The first realisation that someone else has become so important to your happiness. The hopes that he or she feels the same way about you. The dreams of living together forever. The expectation of happiness.

As always, Hindi films celebrate that first flush of love with songs. Seek, and ye shall find a cornucopia of songs that soak in this emotion. I sought. And found. But when my shortlist itself ran into a couple of dozen songs, the question was, what do I leave out? After hours of rumination (and immersing myself in some lovely, lovely songs!) I finally decided on these songs that express many different shades of the same emotion. In no particular order then...

What happens when the first sight of a beautiful woman pushes the thoughts of everything else from your mind? An impecunious reporter, Preetam (Guru Dutt), and his equally penurious friend Johnny (Johnny Walker), are in danger of being thrown out of their quarters if they do not cough up the rent by the evening. That day, they are sent to cover a tennis match for their newspaper. There, Preetam runs into Anita (Madhubala), who has come to cheer on the love of her life. Preetam loses his heart to her on the spot. Johnny, who has not had his mental faculties thus hindered, tries desperately to get Preetam to concentrate on more mundane matters. But Preetam is lost in his own world - he is describing his changed world to a worried Johnny:Zaalim mohabbat bhi kya chaal chal gayi Sun pyare, sun pyare apni to kismet badal gayi
Dil par hua aisa jadooTabeeyat machal machal gayi Nazrein mili kya kisi se
Haalat badal badal gayi2. Ye nayi nayi preet hai

Pocketmaar (1956)

Singer: Talat Mahmood, Lata Mangeshkar

Music: Madan Mohan

Lyrics: Rajinder Krishan

Two youngsters enjoying the throes of their first love, this song exemplifies just how sweet this feeling is. The fluttering of their hearts, as they hug their precious secret close to themselves, and try to find a place, like thousands of lovers before them, where they can be alone with themselves and their new-found love - with only the Earth and the Sky bearing witness to their innocent passion for each other. There is shyness, there is commitment, there is an quiet wonder at this new emotion that fills their hearts, and above all, there is happiness. Nazar tumse mili aise ke hum sharma gaye
Pukaara jab tere dil ne to phir hum aa gaye
Kasam tumhein pyar ki isi iqraar ki

Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni'Love at first sight' may be a cliché, and possibly does not happen in real life, but it is a scenario that Hindi films have dealt with rather beautifully. In this case, our hero hasn't even really seen his beloved; well, not properly, at any rate. All he has seen is a pair of beautiful eyes behind a hijaab, and a fair, slim hand that stretches out from under a burqa. What is worse is that this is the last day of college and he might never see her again, much less find out her name, or who she is. What is he to do? Well, says his friend, he is a poet, isn't he? Perhaps he should write an ode to his beloved, and sing it at the farewell function. Not entirely convinced, but with nothing to lose, he does so, pouring out his emotions...

When you have no one to call your own, have always felt alone despite having a family (of sorts), when you have always been 'beti jaisi', never 'beti', always been on the outside looking in, it is nothing short of a miracle to find that someone actually likes you for who and what you are. The eponymous Sujata cannot quite believe it herself. There is a sense of surprise that someone found her worthy of being loved, mingled with conflicting emotions of a shy happiness, and a feeling of wanting to let the chips fall where they will - because why should the world care about her happiness, when it didn't care about her unhappiness? Hoon main kitni akeli woh yeh jaante
Mere berang jeewan ko pehchaante
Mere haathon ko thaame, hase aur hasaaye
Mera dukh bhulaaye kisi ka kya jaaye
Kaali ghata chhaaye mora jiya tarsaaye5. Leke pehla pehla pyar

C.I.D (1956)Singers: Shamshad Begum, Mohammed RafiMusic: OP NayyarLyrics: Majrooh SultanpuriWhat happens when the woman you love is angry with you? And if she is not willing to listen to your apologies? Well, if you are the usual Hindi film hero, you could try to sing yourself into her good graces. After all, theroothna-mananatrope is a huge part of being in love. But what if you, the hero, are a CID officer, and can't sing? It is not that hard to resolve if you are resourceful. And our hero is nothing if not resourceful. So he hires itinerant street singers (Shyam Kumar and Sheila Vaz) to get his beloved to forgive him his lapses. The ploy does work. Sun sun baatein teri gori muskaayi re
Aayi aayi dekho dekho aayi hasi aayi re
Haai kheli hothon pe bahaar
Nikla gusse se bhi pyar
Jaadu nagri se aaya hai koyi jaadugarHow can it not, especially when our hero is walking along with them, smiling his gap-toothed grin at his beloved? 6. Ek haseen shaam ko

Dulhan ek raat ki (1962)

Singer: Mohammed Rafi

Music: Madan Mohan

Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

This is the small ray of light in a rather bleak film. (Well it's based on Tess of the D'urbervilles, so what did you expect?) When Ashok (Dharmendra) and Nirmala (Nutan) meet accidentally, there is an immediate attraction. However, bad things can happen to good people, as Nirmala is about to discover. When she gets another chance, however, she has obviously changed, but Ashok is just the same, and miraculously, still feels the same about her. There is a lot that is left unsaid, and things don't always go according to plan, but for the moment, she is happy as Ashok sings:

She's known him for ages; they are family friends after all. But she hadn't quite realised just how much she cared for him until she learns that he is soon moving to her city. And when he arrives, it is clear that he reciprocates that feeling. He has promised to visit her that evening, and she is eagerly awaiting his arrival. It is hard, that anticipation... and she whiles away the time playing a few notes on the piano. Then restless, she moves around the house, singing, straightening the curtains, playing with the flowers in a vase... (The
irony, perhaps, lies in the fact that there is someone else listening
to her song, who thinks she is singing for him, about him...)Kiske aane ki khabar le ke hawaayen aayee
Jism ke phool chatakne ki sadaayen aayeeRooh khilne lagi
Rooh khilne lagi saanson mein mehak jaag uthi
Dil ke soye huye taaron mein khanak jaag uthi8.Pehla pehla pyar ka ishaara

College Girl (1960)Singers: Mohammed Rafi, Lata MangeshkarMusic: Shankar-JaikishenLyrics: Rajinder Krishan Can I have a list without at least trying to include a
Shammi song? Here, he and Vyjayanthimala are exulting in the freedom of being alone, as they sing about the experience of being in love and confess to their reciprocal affections. As always, Shammi is on the move; it is not enough
that the horse is trotting along quite nicely, he has to throw himself about as well. And of course, if it is Shammi, then there can be no bashful admission of love. His is an outright declaration of the chaos that takes place when one is in love -

However, he is not so lost in love that he doesn't remember to sound a note of caution - they should speak softly, or the winds will hear; the flowers in the garden will whisper of of their secret to each other, and the bees will gossip about it. 9. Sajna mera dil tera dil

Jhoola (1962)

Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Music: Salil ChoudharyLyrics: Rajinder Krishen

Doctor-nurse romances are not unusual in popular romances, and once upon a time, they were quite common in films as well. In Jhoola, Sunil Dutt plays Dr Arun, an independently wealthy man who decides that the perks of his profession are less important than its tenets - the care of the common man. Vyjayanthimala is the nurse he meets, and falls in love with, in the small town where he relocates. (What a small town girl is doing in a swimsuit [in the period the film is set in] is beyond my comprehension, but hey, whatever works.) In any case, she is not very bashful either - she openly confesses her love for him, and hopes that no one will cast an evil eye on their love. As she sings...Main hoon teri ye kasam le tu hai mera ye kasam de
Hum na badle chaahe badle ye zameen ye aasmaanSajna
mera dil, tera dil, gaya mil
Kisi se mat kehna o sajna... long time Hindi movie watchers will know what happens next. An absolutely lively and melodious Salilda composition, sung beautifully by Lata.10. Kaisa jaadu balam tune daara

12 o'Clock (1958)

Singer: Geeta Dutt

Music: OP Nayyar

Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

She (Bani) has just joined Ajay's (Guru Dutt) office. He is a solicitor, she joins as receptionist/secretary, and Ajay is soon besotted by her beauty and her personality. He takes her out to meet clients, and while there, a friend of his draws their portraits, which she is quick to beg of him. She is also quick to tease Ajay (who she is aware has fallen for her) about a supposed rival (Rehman). They part in a miff, but that night, after she bids Ajay goodnight (he climbs up the stairs to wish her), Bani admits to herself that she loves him. (The sketch helps, as well.) And she cannot help but burst into song. There is happiness, there is a shy wonder at how charmed she is by him, and she sings about all her conflicting emotions. Hosh bhi thoda thoda nasha bhi
Dard bhi thoda thoda maza bhi
Teer saiyyan, teer saiyyanTeer saiyyan ajab tu-ne maaraKho gaya nanha sa dil hamara Kaisaa jadoo balam tu-ne daara
Kho gaya nanha sa dil hamara...11. Bade armaanon se rakha hai balam, teri kasam

Malhar (1951)Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh Music: RoshanLyrics: IndeewarOne of the two films produced by Mukesh (the other was Anurag in 1956), Malhar boasted a stellar score by music director Roshan, himself just a few films old at this time. (His first recorded score was Neki aur Badi in 1949, followed by Bawre Nain in 1950. Malhar was either his third or fourth film - Hum Log was also released in 1951.) Malhar also saw the debut of actress Shammi (her first 'heroine' role - as Rashmi), as well as Arjun, who played the male lead, Rattan, and Moti Sagar, who played Anand. Childhood sweethearts Rattan and Rashmi have grown up and fallen in love. This song comes as the scene segues from the two of them as children into their young adulthood. Of course, once they sing...Meri naiyaa ko kinare ka intezaar nahin
Tera aanchal ho toh patwaar bhi darkaar nahin
Tere hote huye kyun ho mujhe toofaan ka gham
Pyar ki duniya mein ye pehla kadam
Bade armaanon se rakha hai balam teri kasamO balam teri kasam
Pyar ki duniya mein ye pehla kadam ...you know things can't end well. 12. Pehla nasha pehla khumar

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992)

Singers: Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik

Music: Jatin-Lalit

Lyrics: Majrooh SultanpuriThis is from a later period than the songs that usually populate my 'My Favourite' lists. But this song is one of my favourites from an era where songs were mostly
noise. It was fresh, it had a simplicity that appealed to me, and the
picturisation was so full of the joie de vivre of young love - the unabashed enthusiasm, the complete un-selfconsciousness of the very young who feel that love is theirs by right. It is the age when you feel that nothing is impossible, that the world is just there for you to conquer. Udta hi firoon in hawaaon mein kahin

Ya mein jhool jaaoon in ghataaon mein kahin

Ek kar doon aasmaan zameen

Kaho yaaron kya karoon kya nahin

Pehla nasha, pehla khumaar,

Naya pyar hain naya intezaar

Kar loon main kya apna haal

Ae dil-e-beqaraar

Mere dil-e-beqarar, tu hi bata... What are your stories of first love? Which songs would you add to this list? Feel free to share both stories and songs in the comments.

43 comments:

Ooh, nice list, Anu - and a lot of the songs are ones I like (incidentally, I had no idea whatsoever that Shammi had even acted the heroine - let alone that Bade armaan se rakha hai was picturised on her. Even your lone 'new' film song is a good one. :-)

Okay, you will probably kill me for this, but so what! Pehla-pehla pyaar hai jaanam tere liye does fit the bill as far as the pehla pyaar theme is concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fn8EYSZiGM

Then there's this one, which I think is far nicer, though still not really 'old' in the way we think. Saamne yeh kaun aaya:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37HU_J2tTkY

And, finally, one song from the 60s that I like a lot and which I think fits the theme: Unse mili nazar ke mere hosh ud gaye:

What a lovely theme! Unfortunately, I could only think of one song immediately, and I knew it would be there among your choices, and sure enough, it was - Leke pehla pehla pyar ..., so I will content myself with listening to all the songs posted above and then I can tax my poor walnut sized brain to think of some more! I am listening to the Guru Dutt song for the first time, and I love the descriptions. I also love the look in Guru Dutt's eyes! What a pity that he died so early!Okay, now I will listen to the songs and then come back! And I have never heard that 'new' song so I must listen to it first.

I have seen this movie, but it was a long, long time back, In India, I think, before I came here, so my memories are vague, but I remember liking the movie. I will see if I can watch it on Youtube. Thanks for reminding me about it.

Anu for once I am grateful that there is no unfamiliar song in your list. I have been struggling for over a month now with a slowed down internet that makes it impossible to watch Youtube videos. That's the reason for my absence from the discussions on your blog and SoY. Thanks to the familiarity I am able to enjoy the post and your beautiful write-up on each song in spite of this handicap.

I guess both versions of 'Na tum hame jano' should make it to this list. In a lighter mood 'Hum the wo thee aur saman rangeen samajh gaye na' is a good candidate. How about 'Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai?'

Lovely songs Anu, the pleasant surprise on your list was "bade armaano se rakha hai balam" . I did think of it when I started reading your post, and there it was. It is interesting that Roshan used one song with slightly different words in two movies and both as credits roll. Garjat barsat bheejat aayi lo and Garjat barsat saawan aayo re from Barsat ki raat. These two songs led me to watch Malhar but what a disappointment, though the music was good. The Guru Dutt song, iit was worth watching his expressions when he sings it. He could do light hearted stuff very well too. Since you have posted a post 60's song, may I take liberty to post one. What about the sentiment that the two are in love, but don't quite know what love is."Kya yehi pyaar hai" from Rocky.http://youtu.be/IRwhCy3-Y5Y

Harini, thanks for both the kind words and the comment. :) I love, absolutely love Netru Illatha Maatrum; I have a vague recollection of listening to the HIndi version (I compered a tribute to Ilaiyaraja show last year, and I was talking to the singers about Tamil songs and mentioned I loved this one by ARR, and one of them introduced me to this version.). I must say I prefer the original. Thanks for the link; it is now playing in the background.

I agree with you, ava. There is something nice about the whole thing. I love Pehla nasha! It is one of my absolute favourites, and I love everything about it - the way it is sung, the picturisation, everything!

I wish it did! But this song sings more of the yearning for someone to love than the pangs of first love. I saw this film many years ago, and I don't remember the sequence, but she hasn't fallen in love with Shashi just yet, has she? This probably would fit my previous post - the Songs of Yearning. It sounds more like that theme than that of first love. (But it is a lovely song, Anwar.)

It is so nice to see you back, Subodh. I did wonder where you had disappeared off to - you had been missing for a long time. But then, I haven't been that visible either.

Thank you for managing to comment despite your connection difficulties. I like the addition of Na tum humein jaano. I;m not too sure of Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai. Is Rosie in love with Raju then? I thought she was just happy to be free at last. As for Hum the woh thi, the lyrics of the song imply that he is in love with the girl he met, but the context states otherwise. In fact, just after the song finishes, Kishore confesses that he was telling a big fat lie. :) (And now you will hate me for putting in arbitrary guidelines! *grin*)

Oh yes, I love the original Netru Illadha Maatrum - the hindi version sounds very pheeka.,..oooh.. compere a tribute show - that sounds cool! I listed the hindi version only cos this is a hindi songs list! :-)

This is a real nice theme. I prefer old songs, so obviously I enjoyed your list. There is one song from the present day, by present day I am mean in the last ten or 15 years that I quite like and that is kya yeh mera pehla pehla pyaar hai

Ok, I am back again :) your theme keeps coming back to me as I remember songs here and there.This must be first love, if the heart was " kora kagaz" . So "kora gagan Tha ye man mera"http://youtu.be/q2V-igVbtJYFrom the same movie, teasing going on here. She is in love but won't give him the pleasure of hearing it from her. "Bag on mein bahar hai, hai"http://youtu.be/VDVPGmtx7SQ

And then there are those who would tell you with all song and dance that they are in love"Lo pyaar ki ho gayi jeet, balam hum tere ho Gaye"http://youtu.be/vRTYEcnEY0w

A lovely theme and a list of delightful songs, Anu While I like most of the songs, the 3 songs from Mere mehboob, Malhar and Jo Jeeta wohi sikandar songs are my favorites. Not sure of the situation and what transpired earlier in the movie, but I do like the soft and romantic Pehla pehla pyaar hai from Hum aapke hain koun…Ravi

I had to comment that I enjoyed reading this so much. Not only that, but you are helping the readers not to forget the great lyricists that we have had. My all time favourite though is 'jab raat nahiin kat tii, ik raat nahiin kat tii, zindagi kaise kategi'. There are moments in life, that this rings so true and many of the songs touch your soul that rise above just a film song and become part of your life and that is what makes these lyricists http://youtu.be/hRnbq-PBqmcgreat for me. BTW, in your introduction you mentioned Shailendra penning 'duniya banane wale, kya tere man mein samaai' that mukhda was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Though the song is attributed to Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri talks about the mukhada in praise of Raj Kapoor. http://youtu.be/C_0IR6SgtA4

Anu ji,Nice theme. Although the songs were familiar, enjoyed listening to the delightful dozen.

“Once you do surmount that hurdle, however, you may find that this second love is sweeter, stronger, more mature, and perhaps more enduring.”

True, I am inclined to agree with you. For that matter every new encounter was a new love, till I settled forthe last one! And that emerged to be the “first” love. This song which may not confirm to your guidelines, but I like the song. I take the liberty of posting it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4wViB1RkOs

From the brief introduction to the songs you have provided it seems you watched at least the portions preceding the songs. I would have found it difficult to identify whether they were expressions of first love, different from wooing and yearning, only by listening to the song alone.

I can recollect one such song from Naughty Boy (1962). After some yearning and wooing Kishore Kumar manages to express his love and asks Ab to batla arre zalim meri kismet me kya hai.

Well, the impression I have from the film is that Kishore is lying about lying! Anyway, how about 'Jaane kya tune kahi' and 'Jogi jab se tu aaya mere dware'. The ladies are definitely in the throes of first love, not too sure if the men reciprocate at this stage:

Neeru, when I first read the lyrics of the song you posted, Chingari koi bhadke crossed my mind immediately. And then, I noticed that you had added that. Thanks for the song and the clip; and I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

Subodh, perhaps. :) I love the song anyway, so let's leave it in. :) :)

But Jaane kya tune kahi is definitely not a 'in the throes of love' song. Gulabo is a prostitute and mistakes Vijay for a customer (he is interested in her because he hears her recite his poetry - which he has lost because his sister-in-law has sold all his old notebooks to a raddiwala). So she entices him to the brothel, and is very angry when she realises that she has wasted her time. It is only later that she realises that he is the poet whose work she admires.

The Bandini song is a perfect fit, though. Thank you for adding that. I hadn't heard the ARR song before.

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